We all go through ups and downs in life, and I am no different. I write a lot about staying active as a way to deal with back pain. Lately, I just haven’t been “feeling it.”
I still walk frequently during the day, including a mid-morning walk around the building at work. I also try to get out during my lunch hour and take a brisk 20-minute walk around the complex. My wife and I go for a walk just about every night of the week. Walking gives us a chance to get out of the house and catch up on everything that is going on in our lives.
We have two busy teenagers, so my wife and I are often busy with one or the other at the same time in different locations. I am sure many of you can relate. You have one kid a practice in one place, then the other one needs to be picked up, or taken somewhere else, usually across town LOL.
Our family also has a lot going on right now just life stuff happening!
All of that leads me to the fact that I have not been putting in as much work as I should when it comes to workouts. Sure I do a lot of walking, and I have a daily regimen of pushups that I complete every day. I did 60,000 pushups in 2018, and that is a personal best for me.
So, what is this post all about? It’s about me kicking it up a notch. I preach working out as a way to build a stronger body to combat back pain, but I have not been living my message lately.
Sometimes I get overwhelmed with life. With work and a very busy family, sometimes it’s just tough to gather up my gear and head to the gym. Sometimes I get complacent, even lazy.
One area where I tend to get complacent is my workouts themselves. Sure I go to the gym and plow through a workout, but I rarely add any variety. I tend to do the same things over and over again, which leads to boredom, which leads to me not going.
I went to the gym yesterday, and it had honestly been about two weeks. I can’t believe it had been that long, but sure enough, it was. Typically I workout about 4-5 days per week. My lack of time in the gym made me kind of mad at myself. How am I supposed to progress if I don’t workout? So off I went.
I decided to try some different exercises. I have been following some people online and on Instagram, so I thought I would give something new a try. I was shocked at how weak I am in certain areas. Key core muscle groups are severely lacking. Again, this takes me back to the point of not adding variety to my workout. I get stuck in a rut and am just so eager to plow through my routine that it becomes just that…routine.
I tried doing Renegade Rows, and those were difficult for me. I tried some other spine-neutral core exercises and once again, those were more difficult than I was expecting. The point here is that I need to spend more time on quality than on quantity.
I need to work on adding variety to my workout, so I am sure to improve my core strength; after all, that is such a pivotal component to battling back problems.
For 2019, that is something I am going to focus on, adding more variety to my workouts. I need to do more research and figure out which exercises I can add that will help me in my back pain journey. Core strengthening exercises with a neutral spine are going to be tops on my list.
A lot of times I am just so eager to get my gym time over with that I do what I am comfortable with. I don’t take enough time to learn how to do some new stuff. I guess I shouldn’t beat myself up too much over this after all doing anything at the gym is better than doing nothing.
I need to find safe and effective ways to strengthen my back, so I can continue to lead an active and pain-free lifestyle.
Thanks for tuning in today, I appreciate it.
If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.