One of the purposes of this blog is as an aide-memoire to myself as I physically grow older. Health setbacks are worth recording as they can serve as lessons on what to avoid and how to recover. I can learn from the experience – as long I have an accurate recall of the incident.
Since starting the blog, I have three times injured by calf muscle by suddenly initiating a sprint on unwarmed-up legs (Here's a recent example). Twang! Instant spasm of pain, like being hit in the back of the leg with a baseball bat. And then a week to ten days of immobility, hobbling, limping and returning to normal. In these cases, I knew immediately what went wrong... and have now learned to avoid doing it again. The urge to sprint for a bus or train is restrained by muscle memory.
But with my back, it's something else – a different process. The root cause is harder to pin down...
Was it that I overdid my exercises (holding plank for over nine minutes)? Or carrying too many heavy things (clearing out bags of rubbish for recycling on Monday)? Overdoing the paces (over 19,000 on Saturday)? A combination of all of the above? At least I know it wasn't gardening. This was the cause of a similar sprain injury of my back in the late March when I had a go at scything away dead vegetation. That twisting-upper-body motion requires warm-up exercises! The result was a back sprain that lasted a week and returned two weeks later.
This time – I honestly can't pinpoint one cause. I would like to know, so that I can avoid doing this again in future!
By Tuesday, I would feel spasms of pain when lifting (even taking the cat litter-tray out into the garden), when suddenly changing positions, when my foot dropped into an expected dip in the earth. OW! That hurt! When sitting or lying down – no pain. To the extent that I forget about it. Until I try to move. OW! Wednesday was the worst, by today I can feel improvement.
Back twangs don't hit me suddenly, they come on gradually. On Monday, I thought I'd pause all exercises, but I still walked 10km. On Tuesday, things were getting no better, so again – no exercises – but again, 10km walked. Wednesday and today – I stayed in; other than short excursions around the garden – no walking. And no exercises. The spasms have lost their intensity, but still manifest themselves if I execute some sudden manoeuvre.
Today it's better than yesterday. There is healing. So – stop the exercises, don't walk... wait it out rather than push through it. The most important thing is going back to my normal routine. I won't be returning instantly to 30 sit-ups, nine minutes of plank, eight sets of back extensions, 60 squats and ten repetitions of bird-dog extensions held for ten seconds each. I need to build up gradually, taking intense care as I return to the exercises not to overdo it.
I must say – the very act of writing about it makes my back feel better!
This time last year:
Weeding the tracks/Rail update
This time three years ago:
Dave: An Emissary
This time four years ago:
Fifty years with Virginia Plain
The Curve (and one's place on it)
Fifty years on, my last kolonia
Grodzisk Mazowiecki's pretty station
This time 14 years ago:
Exorcism outside the President's Palace
This time 15 years ago:
The raging footsoldier - a story about anger
This time 16 years ago:
Graffiti and street art
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