Lighter Days
Besides daylight savings. (Ha. Ha. See what I did there?)
What I really mean is, my workouts the last few weeks have been light or not at all. I've been taking a few weeks off of aerial while my back and hamstring calm down. My hamstring has improved a lot, but my back is still pretty rough. I've been wearing a back support to work the last couple weeks, and slowly trying to wean off it with the theory that once I can handle a whole day of work without my back brace, I will be well enough for aerial.
The problem is that I could not get a physical therapy appointment (grown-up PT is a whole different ball game than what I do as a career, pediatric PT) that fit in with my work schedule until the end of March. I hoped that with pilates and barre classes, I could reactivate my core muscles and begin to feel better. That way, I could start up with aerial again before even starting PT as a patient, but it's not looking likely given that this is now my third week that I will be skipping aerial.
The other problem is that my job is pretty rough on the body. I spend my day getting up and down from the floor, lifting children and equipment, lunging and squatting and twisting, and sometimes making pretty quick movements to prevent a child from falling. Some of the older children I work with are almost my size, and often demonstrate unpredictable movements that require a lot of quick, unexpected adjustments on my part, if not completely lifting them up off the ground. Some sessions I feel like a weight lifter, some a stooped over older woman, others a wrestler. Every session is different, but the common denominator is that it usually aggravates my back further. The natural progression of this problem is the terrifying realization that my body may not last in my profession for as long as I would like to work as a physical therapist. And that's truly scary.
The third, and not unrelated problem, is that I have gained some weight. Losing weight is always a challenge for me - in addition to my need for low-impact only exercise that is diverse enough to not cause overuse injuries, I have polycystic ovarian syndrome that makes weight gain very easy and weight loss a real struggle. My frame feels the impact of even a few extra pounds with such poor ligamentous support. So I've re-started my campaign to cut down on sugar and overall eat more salad and less pasta. (I'm blessed in that I truly love eating salads and veggies in general. But I also have a horrific sweet tooth.)
The next problem is that I'm so damn tired every day, I have little energy for restorative exercise. This is only magnified with starting up PT appointments as well as needing to become more consistent with my hand therapy.
All that said, both pilates and barre are fantastic workouts for me that tend to be safe. The instructors are trained to correct form since the fitness methods are reliant on proper body mechanics. The local classes I have tried have all been fun and engaging, and I always leave feeling sore and remembering to activate my core through all my movements, at least while the immediate soreness is still present.
I do miss aerial, and each week away reminds me how much harder it will be when I return after being out of practice.
What I really mean is, my workouts the last few weeks have been light or not at all. I've been taking a few weeks off of aerial while my back and hamstring calm down. My hamstring has improved a lot, but my back is still pretty rough. I've been wearing a back support to work the last couple weeks, and slowly trying to wean off it with the theory that once I can handle a whole day of work without my back brace, I will be well enough for aerial.
The problem is that I could not get a physical therapy appointment (grown-up PT is a whole different ball game than what I do as a career, pediatric PT) that fit in with my work schedule until the end of March. I hoped that with pilates and barre classes, I could reactivate my core muscles and begin to feel better. That way, I could start up with aerial again before even starting PT as a patient, but it's not looking likely given that this is now my third week that I will be skipping aerial.
The other problem is that my job is pretty rough on the body. I spend my day getting up and down from the floor, lifting children and equipment, lunging and squatting and twisting, and sometimes making pretty quick movements to prevent a child from falling. Some of the older children I work with are almost my size, and often demonstrate unpredictable movements that require a lot of quick, unexpected adjustments on my part, if not completely lifting them up off the ground. Some sessions I feel like a weight lifter, some a stooped over older woman, others a wrestler. Every session is different, but the common denominator is that it usually aggravates my back further. The natural progression of this problem is the terrifying realization that my body may not last in my profession for as long as I would like to work as a physical therapist. And that's truly scary.
The third, and not unrelated problem, is that I have gained some weight. Losing weight is always a challenge for me - in addition to my need for low-impact only exercise that is diverse enough to not cause overuse injuries, I have polycystic ovarian syndrome that makes weight gain very easy and weight loss a real struggle. My frame feels the impact of even a few extra pounds with such poor ligamentous support. So I've re-started my campaign to cut down on sugar and overall eat more salad and less pasta. (I'm blessed in that I truly love eating salads and veggies in general. But I also have a horrific sweet tooth.)
The next problem is that I'm so damn tired every day, I have little energy for restorative exercise. This is only magnified with starting up PT appointments as well as needing to become more consistent with my hand therapy.
All that said, both pilates and barre are fantastic workouts for me that tend to be safe. The instructors are trained to correct form since the fitness methods are reliant on proper body mechanics. The local classes I have tried have all been fun and engaging, and I always leave feeling sore and remembering to activate my core through all my movements, at least while the immediate soreness is still present.
I do miss aerial, and each week away reminds me how much harder it will be when I return after being out of practice.
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