Project X

Wairau

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Talked to the boss about the restructure. Had two options - one in the new team doing a lot of Google stuff and one developing customer-facing things primarily. Option 2 gives me a lot more focus on the database work I want, so I'm actually feeling better about that as at least my core skills are going to get some notice. They've been trying for years to make me talk to customers but I've made it pretty clear I think our customers are all dickheads, and therefore I am seen as lacking the tact for such roles.
 
Back is still not 100% but the chiro has given me a timeline so I've got something to be positive about. I've also decided bar lifting in any form is not going to happen for the next couple of months.
 
Running and body weight will be targeted once the disc settles down. Plus the grip strength thread just reminded me I haven't done any of that.
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I agree with this. I do none, and I have no fitness problems-actually, I like being mobile, which I am not when my back tightens up with bar work and cycling.
Make sure to stretch it out by hanging with good form from the pull up bar-you should do this daily when you get home, since you sit down too much. Good form means hanging straight arms, ballet dancer straight back tucked in arse, and letting the head go up and back for a full spine stretch, then holding it and breathing 5-10 times.
Also, maybe add kicking with a board. It's great because it increases your fitness, leg strength, ab strength, stabilisers, and strteches out the hip, lower and upper back muscles as you fight to stay stable and high in the water. It's hard to do for the first few weeks, but once you are good you can fly through/over the water.
Get a decent dip bar set up.
and perhaps some med weight kettle bells.
Have patience, and good luck.

NTA

Karate last night. Couple of twinges in the back, but it made sure my technique was generally sound. It became pretty clear that if my posture was right, nothing would hurt, so I concentrated on that.

NTA

Been doing the odd bit of exercise to keep a little form, while the back heals. Slooooooow pull ups, a bit if walking. Nothing strenuous. Chiro said I could start running again but only on grass, so will see if I can get down to the local oval.... Which in this dry spell is like fucking concrete anyway, so we'll see

Kirwan

What about cycling? Might be a bit easier in your back.

NTA

Chiro didn't want me spending too much time with a curved back - don't sit down too long at desk or on the couch etc etc I'll ease back into the cycling with a couple of short rides over the coming weekends She said it's probably a couple of months to fully heal it, and while I feel good right now, it is usually when you start feeling normal again that the damage is repeated. Right now scar tissue is apparently forming a plug over the leaky disc and too much strain could blow it back off again

Paekakboyz

sound advice there my man. Nothing worse than thinking the injury has gone away (or at least stopped hurting!) and trying to pick up where you'd left off. At the end of that path lies Snap City!!
 
But it is really tough when the body is feeling heaps better and you are gagging to train. 
 
Could always concentrate on your eating approach in the meantime?? That's one way to keep working toward the body you want while your exercise options are limited.

El Toro supremo

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="NTA" data-cid="416488" data-time="1393322990">Chiro didn't want me spending too much time with a curved back - don't sit down too long at desk or on the couch etc etcI'll ease back into the cycling with a couple of short rides over the coming weekendsShe said it's probably a couple of months to fully heal it, and while I feel good right now, it is usually when you start feeling normal again that the damage is repeated. Right now scar tissue is apparently forming a plug over the leaky disc and too much strain could blow it back off again</blockquote>
 
Try this link..... <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' class="bbc_url" href='http://saveyourself.ca/tutorials/low-back-pain.php'>http://saveyourself.ca/tutorials/low-back-pain.php</a> 
Most comprehensive self education about back pain I have found ......ever. 
The full ebook costs $20. Worth a 100 times that if you suffer from a back issue to cut through all the bullshit from your doctors, physios, surgeons and chiros etc and whatever treatment they are trying to sell you. It is a long but easy and very entertaining read. 
Good luck!

Kirwan

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' data-author="NTA" data-cid="416488" data-time="1393322990">Chiro didn't want me spending too much time with a curved back - don't sit down too long at desk or on the couch etc etc 
 
I'll ease back into the cycling with a couple of short rides over the coming weekends 
 
She said it's probably a couple of months to fully heal it, and while I feel good right now, it is usually when you start feeling normal again that the damage is repeated. 
 
Right now scar tissue is apparently forming a plug over the leaky disc and too much strain could blow it back off again</blockquote>
 
Yeah that makes sense. I know it won't give you as much fitness, but maybe fast walking for an hour might be a better option than running? I know when my back plays up that running plays havoc on it. 
 
Hour fast walk is roughly the Same calories burned as a 30min run if that matters to you. 
 
Dodgy backs suck, that's for sure. Are you doing the exercise to release the pressure? The one the Kiwi invented, lying on your stomach and easing you chest up and resting on your arms (increasing the height over time). Does wonders for putting the disks back where they should be. If I put my back out, I do three sets of that and im fairly mobile again, and it reduces the pain significantly.

NTA

Yeah walking is the next step. Karate last night so tomorrow night I'll be hitting the pavement

NTA

After all this shitty weather I finally got out for a walk last night. But I got bored so I did a bit of running in there as well - damn what the chiro says! I probably didn't make it clear to her that I'm a barefoot runner so heel striking isn't an issue. She said grass running was OK but I figured street running would work in the fivefingers 5 km in 35 minutes so around 8.5 km/h making the run bit approx 40%

Paekakboyz

bro! go easy on the running mate, last thing you want is to set back your recovery.... unless it's your wife finding out you aren't following the chiro's orders and your back still hurts! now that would be painful!

NTA

Monday night I spent working on pullup form as I prepare to get back into it. Nice night - moonlit, about 21C out on the concrete slab I'd painted Sunday. 5 sets of 5 in between chapters of a book I'm reading. 
 
Karate last night. Sparring too so sweated like the proverbial bastard.
 
Chiro yesterday didn't specifically say I couldn't start running again (I didn't ask), so Friday morning I think a gentle 5km is in order.

NTA

Not related to fitness - I'm at a department offsite today. A few hundred people in the room, and a few manager types spewing bullshit. I'm having to physically restrain myself. So maybe I'm burning a few calories as my brain frantically locks my muscles (including larynx) into place in order to keep me in a job.

Paekakboyz

Just be careful your visualisation of smacking em in the mush doesn't become reality!!

NTA

Career shortening opportunities are rife.

Paekakboyz

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Career shortening opportunities are rife.
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oh, are some of the chicks in the crowd hot!!?

NTA

Fuck yes. One of the facilitators in particular - clingy black dress. Though we are down the wrong end of the CBD for the true hotness: chicks in suits. Lawyers, consultants, financials, HR burds. Been fourteen years since I worked in the city. That's the only thing I miss.

NTA

OK so its been a bit drifty the last few weeks. Haven't really been watching the diet etc. and had a bout of gastric issues related to the inner workings.
 
Stepped on the scales Monday morning and it was a 97.4kg problem... :think:
 
Yeeeeeeah... anyway. So I've been really clamping down on the eats, avoiding the processed stuff, and this morning was already back towards 96.
 
Karate tonight and it was a bit of a dud because sensei needed to drill a few white belts, so the rest of us didn't get as much out of it. Damn shame but I'll do some at home on the weekend to make up for it.

Paekakboyz

Re-focus bro!! You'd been making good progress after the move and all the associated work and health stuff.

NTA

You're not wrong, but its been a weird week.
 
After the work shit on Friday, I had an awesome weekend camping with the wife and kids and some friends of ours. Full moon, mostly clear skies, campfire, bacon and eggs. Didn't really drink except for a celebratory bubbly - first time we've managed to nail down a weekend camping with these friends in eight years!
 
After work on Monday found out my last grandparent died. At least she didn't have to go through any more of her own kids passing away after Dad and his middle sister both went in the last couple of years. While I'm not really shocked - she was 92 and reasonably immobile though still mentally able - it is still another family member lost and gives me dark thoughts about mortality and how I'm about halfway through it, having achieved few things on my own bucket list.
 
I started thinking about life in general as well - do I spend time on exercise when I could be spending it on something else?
Does the time left over from work and family allow for the "something else" to amount to more than sitting on my arse?
Can I enjoy life being below a peak I haven't yet found, or do I need to keep searching for awesomeness to give meaning to the time I have left?
Can I financially afford any alternatives presented to me when my wife and kids aren't on the same wavelength as my fitness desires?
 
Perhaps I'm over-thinking it, but the self analysis has been good in a way as I look at my personal, financial, and family needs. You can't have it all, and I've decided to concentrate on the personal in the short term so I can at least feel good about engaging the rest of it. I want to recapture the feeling I got when reaching a new weight goal like cracking 100kg or 90kg, or setting a new time record for distance.
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I also realised that I've not been sleeping well since Dad died, rarely going unbroken through the night (though my bladder needs to take some of the blame for that). I realised I've not been particularly active during that time either, and now the heat of summer has gone I've pretty much run out of excuses on that front. The mornings are cool, and I need to get back into the habit of road work as the base layer for everything else.
 
So yesterday:
 
Walk at lunch time (work) - 1.02km in 9:49
Run after dinner - 3.01km in 16:43
Walk home after run - 2.01km in 19:24
 
I was struggling to get out that 3km, and had initially thought I could do 5 but wasn't up to it. Carrying the extra weight and not having any practice in really killed, and made me realise how far I'd slipped, especially how bad the time was at around 5:34 per km.
 
But it'll be a case of building back into it, and looking at being under 90km by mid-June, before I turn 38, and then keeping it there even through the beery summers...

The Silver Fern

Project X