Hello everyone, am coming back after major rest due to injury.

My "workouts" are not much. Starting this journal to motivate me and log what I do, pretty much. Today I worked in the yard, shoveling and raking. Then laying some smallish stones in a planter. I got a neat cactus garden, and will post a pic of the natural stone wall I made, two months post surgery.

Last week I swam. Did an unknown number of laps in a 90 foot pool, 20 minutes 3 times last week. Basically, for my goals right now, exercising for time (keeping track of time) is probably alright. I got no hard-core fitness goals right now. I did my thing in outdoor sports and climbing for about 35 years.

Also, part of my "work-outs" are physical therapy. So am going to log some stuff on my spa and sauna use/results. Sauna may help me a lot. Got some light kettlebells, a med ball and a fit ball. Wanting/needing a pull-up bar; got a spot on my front porch to mount one.

Just want better general physical health and mobility. Better emotional stability, tranquility and positive head-space. I do like to exercise, and will post pics as my home exercise thing gets more dialed. My overall goal is to be able to hike, maybe some light back pack trips.

I stick with the camping regardless, year round. I love sleeping out, cooking outdoors, taking pics and just being outside. Need no "goal" just thrive on being outdoors in natural settings. Very lucky to have had a life of doing this. Am lucky to live so near Joshua Tree national park, and other nice places.

OK, that should help make sense of my journal. Thanks again everyone.

I had a nasty bout with sciatica a while back.  My right leg totally atrophied to about ˝ the size of my left leg.  I was able to get the sciatica under control by my chiropractor fortunately.  My leg took a very long time to get back to normal but it did come back.  Now I am good as new.  I hope the same for you with your leg.  Just remember to not overdo it early on.

Took some nice rest today after my little hike: big fat nap. Tomorrow, will continue to wake my body up with some light kettle bell/med ball stuff and some yard work. And (most importantly I think) will start (again) with the foam rollers.

Using this video as my guide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar-qT9EGm1U

LOL. Couldn't resist... 

Hit the pool/spa today and had a good one.

About 40 minutes of hot/cold water immersion stretching, with greater time in the cold water. Added treading water and hand stands (sternum deep) in the cold water as well. Treading water prone, face up. Then pulling into a tuck, then flattening out "face down"  - treading water in the cold pool.

Did some fun combo laps - 20 minutes/90 foot pool. Part crawl, part swimming under-water. Dive to bottom in the deep end (9 feet) touch nose on bottom. Swim to shallow end, hand stand in sternum deep water, balanced up on finger tips. Form tight point with the feet/legs, in a slight arc. Fun/balance/variety.

I can swim 90 feet under water - not easy. Good goal would trying to do 180' as my cardio "benchmark".

To improve pool thing, need to get a watch and more carefully/accurately time my sessions. Always use a mask/snorkel to spare my neck muscle imbalance/arthritis. Little swim goggles always hurt my eyes, leak. No need -  not training for a race.

Got some sun, flopped like a lizard, dozed a few minutes. Foam rollers are looming - I must embrace the pain.

Quote from: James B. on December 08, 2010, 10:02:38 PM

Pleased with the amount of tricep (and pec) soreness in my arms/chest.

Soreness is not a very good indication of training effectiveness. Pain in general is not a solid indication of training quality.
This a favorite -
http://www.staleytraining.com/articles/charles-staley/2009/summit-videos.htm

I can dig it. And I agree.

Need to mentioned that I am coming back from almost 3 months of complete (and near sedentary) rest, so easy for me to generate muscle soreness, with even a little enthusiasm. The little 2.8 mile hike even had residual effect. I am doing more physical therapy, than training. More re-building a conditioning base, than training. Am not actually "training" for jack shit - just taking baby steps post surgery.

My body is very much out of condition. I simply didn't know any other way to deal with acute and debilitating tendonitis of the groin, except for rest. I took the rest after testing by lumbar, and strengthening the muscles with landscaping, working with natural stone.

The pain thing in the myofacial release is pretty normal, I think. 7 on a scale of 10? Not sure any kind of myofacsial release can be pain free. It hurts. Psychologically, it is something I need to get prepped for.

Having said that, I will concur without hesitation that my "work out" sucks. LOL.   In my prime, as a climber I could fire 2 one-arm pull ups from a dead hang, both arms. 20 pull ups as matter of course, and lead 5.11 plus off the couch. That was 25 years ago.

Neurosugery lumbar is fairly major. So I am open to ideas on how to get stronger - considering my current lack of conditioning, limitations and age. Am always open to suggestions.  

I am sure the videos are great - and will check them out. But need to stress, I am not "working out" - just re-building a conditioning base. Nor am I "training" - LOL; overuse of this word has led to a real decline in it's actual value/meaning, IMHO.

What happens when I do kettle bell swings, is the already too tight (and over developed) quads get used, making the myofascial pain worse.

This manifests as an acute biting pain in my left hip flex point. When I saw a very experienced neuromusculoskeletal sports medicine orthopedic surgeon in Orange, he said: my leg was wasted. I had tendonitis in my groin tendon, and it would take a long time to fix it. Makes sense, it took a long time to get wrecked. LOL.

Goals are subjective. Mine are greater mobility, and improved over-all mind/body efficiency. If I can make myself more fit, to the point where I need less food, all the better. I don't have any sports goals anymore. For me "training" is about bottom line practicality in the real world sense.

Mobility and awareness strike me as being good attributes. And good goals (for me) to develop.