A Month In Hell

 It has been a minute since I wrote anything here as of late and for a reason. My sciatica came back and I've been dealing with it just over a month now. Don't know exactly what caused it to come back, maybe a factor of things but it did happen and the pain was so severe that I could barely even stand up, let alone able to walk.

Couldn't sleep in my own bed for weeks and had to sleep on a soft mattress on the floor. Not going into gross details about using the restroom so I'll leave that out. Couldn't sit upright to even eat or drink anything so I had to lay literally on my back or on my side to do those things and needed help getting supplies in order to brush my teeth or even shave. I didn't have anybody lift me up to walk because let's face it, it's not something I want people to attempt with me. When I did walk, every step felt like pin needles and a crowbar hitting my lower back and my right leg like Babe Ruth swinging a baseball bat. 

You know shit gets bad when you can't even sit down to do anything. I' am very grateful for the help I did get and made a vow to myself and to them that when I'm 100%, I'm making up for those things as if my life depended on it. For exercise, I was barely able to move my legs to stretch without feeling pain. I had to fight for every inch of movement just to even get some in. In the beginning, I focused mainly on stretching and using my Iso Bow for Isometric Training so my upper body was still strong enough to move around. A lot of crawling took place and couldn't go up a flight of stairs for at least 2-3 weeks. The pain was so horrible I didn't want anybody around me at times because I would've just been a terrible person to be around. 

I ended up losing some muscle mass in my legs because the pain was so bad I couldn't walk a couple feet without collapsing. Even the last time I went to see a chiropractor I was in such bad shape walking in and out of the building felt like an eternity. I didn't take a bunch of pain killers or heavy doses of muscle relaxers, for supplantation I took Vitamin B, some Ibprophen and a pain reliever throughout the day every few hours, a couple capsules for Nerve and blood circulation, Zinc, Potassium & Magnesium. When I did take relaxers, I took a small dose (or at least to me it was small) of them at night but that barely even helped at all as most nights I wouldn't be able to sleep. Lots of Heat & Ice as well.

One of the worst feelings other than the pain was having no appetite. I would barely eat once a day and that was just so I can take the supplements so they can kick in. Little by little as time went on, I did start eating more and ate mainly eggs, bacon and toast. The only things I drank was mainly water and liquid IV to get some extra hydration in. I would never wish this on anybody, no one should suffer like that and it did feel at times that I wanted to die because I practically knew nothing but severe pain. Because of the loss of appetite, I ended up losing 11 pounds in less than 3 weeks (roughly 18 days to be exact), it was that bad. That's not a healthy way to lose weight I don't care who you are.

Once things started to die down, I would move around more, able to stretch out as best as possible and kept up with my Isometric Training with the Bow doing Bow & Arrow Pulls, Pull Apart, Chest Squeeze & Bicep Curl. Each exercise was done with 3x10 countdown. That's really all I did for my upper body other than the crawling. I started doing DDP Yoga again, making up my own routine or what I could do. It was an instinct and researching every single fucking thing I could on how to fix myself as naturally as possible without being on a bunch of drugs. I could barely even stretch out with most of the moves at first, all the moves are embedded into my memory from doing them years earlier but getting back into it was like being in a fight with Mike Tyson. I kept up with it and ordered the DVD's to fully work them, I'm not the biggest fan of following along to a video but I needed to do something and because I was able to modify the moves, I was able to work around the workouts. The first week or 2 back into it, I made up my own routine and just worked moves as best as I could with the limited mobility I had. Shortly later, I'm able to do a good portion of the moves, modify a few here and there but my flexibility and strength was slowly coming back. After more than 2 weeks straight of doing this, I'm now able to do full on workouts without taking a break or having to pause. It's only been three workouts but those three really got me going again and my endurance is coming back as well. The third workout which I did yesterday was one of their main Leg Workouts called Below The Belt which lasted roughly 40 minutes, I pushed through it modifying only a couple of the moves and did it in its entirety without stopping (unless he said to take some water and wipe off some sweat which at times was only a few seconds). That was one of my biggest moments.

I set little goals for myself and my wife gave me daily goals to accomplish and I did them all. I'm not looking for sympathy, I did this to myself and wanted to do whatever was possible to get out of it on my own, I did have quite a bit of help on a number of things but I wanted to keep fighting and was doing things I didn't want to do and/or feel embarrassed to even talk about because I was and still am ashamed of myself. Only a few people knew what was going on other than the people with me. I didn't want to talk about it until I felt I was getting better to even attempt to write it out and was comfortable to say what I needed to. 

I'm almost completely healed, I have no pain in my back and only feeling discomfort in the nerves in my leg. I'm able to cook and do dishes again, able to bathe without collapsing or having to lay on the bathroom floor to ease the pain, able to walk down the street and back, hold a deep squat without being in agony, walk around with little limping and able to work around things I couldn't even attempt when this started up again. I'm not taking anything for granted and will be smarter about training and making things I normally didn't an asset. I'm not going to push myself the way I used to, I'll still challenge myself but not be gung ho as much and only go hardcore when I'm absolutely confident enough I can get through it unscathed. If I'm doing high reps of anything anymore it would be the Dopa Bands for circuits and Step Ups for leg conditioning, other than that, keep things just enough to be healthy and strong in the long run with better mindfulness. I'll still do some stuff with kettlebells, bands, hammers and bags but not go as crazy, just enough to feel good. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I appreciate all of you and if you're ever in a situation like I was or worse, get the best possible help you can and take care of yourself the best way you can. Be grateful and understanding and know that there are people who would have your back, those are the real people that make the world a better place. If you want to do your best to avoid this type of thing, get DDP Yoga, its worth it. Do what you can with it and make it a part of you, it's one of the best things out there and am very blessed I'm able to do it again. 

Here are pics I took yesterday to show the progress I made. I may look whiter than Casper's head and because of the weight loss, I' am a lot slimmer than I used to be. I'm currently at around 237-238 lbs at the moment. Have an amazingly awesome day and do your best to be positive even in the toughest moments. 

To Keep Going Until The End Of Time

 Certain aspects of training can be put into perspective when you look at it from a certain point of view. In most of my workouts with the Dopa Band, I set a stop watch and see how long it takes to do 10 rounds with the only break marking off the circuit. Sometimes it goes 13 minutes, at times 20 or more minutes but my intention is to always do 10 Rounds or more with little to no rest. It keeps me in shape and its great for rehab if it came down to it. Conditioning is an asset that many underestimate or don't know the true understanding of how useful it really is especially as we get older.

One of my favorite styles of training is to set a time and do a superset continuously until the timer is up. Just focus on the exercises, don't worry or rush the rounds or sets and just hammer out the reps as best as you can until your time is up. The objective is to not stop, adjusting is one thing because you may slow down a bit after a period or tune up the band so to speak as you keep going but you don't stop. That's a test of mental toughness and endurance. I tried this style yesterday doing 4 exercises with the dopa band for 30 min without stopping. No checking off or walking it off, I kept going at a clip that was comfortable for me to where I wasn't getting sloppy but I wasn't going Sonic The Hedgehog either. 

It's about doing what you can to keep your levels up and teaching your body to not get tired or have some gas left in the tank when you're done. It's not about pounding your body into an oblivion and being so damn sore you can't move the next day. Training for the most part is to progress with intent and being aware of what your body can do without needing to go to extremes. As time goes on, we adjust to what we can maintain for life long health. Having strength is never a bad thing but we don't just want our strength to be temporary, it's critical to have it last for as long as we can. 

Conditioning is a component of training we can't afford to lose. If you want to play with the kids, go on hikes, swimming, climbing flights of stairs without issues, taking a stroll through the park; conditioning needs and should be a part of all that in order to live a quality life. Use your energy when it calls for it, be able to keep going when others get tired, harness that gas in the tank mentality to do the fun things in life.

Keep being amazingly awesome. 

Shoulder Health & Mobility

 It can be hard to adjust the way we do things as we get older. We can still do amazing things when we are consistent and listen to our bodies. The trouble is at times, we can get very cocky and become overzealous and anxious so we push ourselves and get hurt. It takes time to recover and it won't be easy getting back to what we are capable of or working around it. 

We pull muscles, put strain on the joints and lose our mobility in the process. It's great to be strong, it's another to be mobile and durable. When we learn to strengthen our joints and ligaments, it becomes a whole new ball game in the realm of living a quality life. That's one of the reasons why I enjoy swinging the Indian Clubs from time to time. Some light work but a huge emphasis on conditioning the areas that keep the body in tact and healthy. It's not a matter of strength, it's a matter of flow and control for a period of time. Some start out with 1/2 pound clubs and others work up to 2-3 pounders. The weight is not meant to be taken lightly (pun intended), it's meant to keep your body healthy and build resilience so less chances of getting injured becomes a priority.

Clubs have been around for many centuries from the time of ancient warriors to the modern day fitness enthusiast who shows classic exercises for health and durability in the shoulders, wrists, elbows, hands and even the core. Clubs can be done with full body workouts and it wakes up the brain as you flow through the patterns with smooth intention and focus. Some do them for time, others for a certain amount of reps, either way if you can control the club and utilize the patterns with efficiency, you can have a hell of a session. Some days I've done 500-1000 total reps with my clubs, other times just a couple hundred or less, it just depends on what I want to do and how I feel that day. It feels really good, gives off an endorphin high and it puts you into a different state of being. It's moving meditation. 

Injuries can be a bitch, some are worse than others and some are mild but we don't want to injured too often or at all because every injury can make or break a person no matter how big or little it is. That's the great thing about clubs as well, to utilize them for prehab or rehab to train those muscles and joints back to a good state of harmony and health. It's a superweapon for mobility conditioning. 

People like Zenkahuna are perfect examples of applying old school methods to keep your quality of life alive with positive affirmations, harmony through physical movement and playful creativity. Look him up, one of the most influential people with an amazing soul. 

Play around with Clubs, learn the movements and patterns, customize your own workouts and have fun. Be old school with a smile. Be amazingly awesome.   

Everyone Deserves To Be Fit

 Every now and then, you come across some numbnuts who treats others and especially potential customers like shit and if they don't buy from you, you're worthless to them. I get it that we need to make a living but acting like an asshole isn't always going to help your cause. Granted some people can't be helped which is understandable but yet we all deserve to have an opportunity to be fit and healthy, it's just a matter of pointing in the right direction. 

Everyone deserves an opportunity to better themselves, sometimes we need a little nudge just to get that first step going. There's really no need to call people weak or fucking idiots, that doesn't make you better than them, it just makes you bitter and pitiful. Quite frankly I don't give a shit if you're a teenager, an old fart, skinny, overweight, gay, straight, non-binary or other folks in the LGBTQ community, a corporate giant, a janitor or a current/former pro athlete, everyone should have the opportunity to train and get better so they can have the quality of life that keeps the world going round and round. 

Fitness isn't just about looking good naked or about how strong you are, it's about self-discovery, the ability to challenge the norm and break through your own barriers. Unless you're Superman or Wonder Woman, nobody starts out the strongest, the fastest, the most conditioned or the most durable. It takes time, it takes research, it's about finding what you can do to progress. Sometimes going to the gym helps, doing bodyweight training wherever you go is always an option, working with Bands goes a long way especially if you're on a budget and there are free resources for awesome information that includes workouts, nutrition recipes, beginner levels to advance so you know where you can go and so much more.

Although we live in the world of overwhelming information, you really only need to look at a few places that have meaning and find what can be best for you. We all start somewhere but how you finish it is up to you. I love to train because it helps me do things in life that are important to me. It keeps me going and learning new ways to do cool stuff. I want to help you develop a mindset that you can create any workout you want with the right tools and resources that work in your favor. We all need a little help sometimes and never forget, the smallest fraction of progress still leads to a bigger entity as time goes on. Some people progress faster than other, some slower but regardless of the pace, progress is still progress. Everyone deserves to be fit.

Make the choice to do a little better each day, every step leads to somewhere and we all have our own path. We may hit a fork in the road or hit a wall but there are ways to move past them and keep going. Be amazingly awesome and do what's possible for you.    

Results As Of March 2024

At the moment, I'm keeping my weight steadily between 245-250 these days (Sitting at 246 as of this morning). The big methods of training I'm doing currently are mainly Step Ups & working the Dopamineo Band doing circuit training some days and others doing HIIT Style Workouts of a 30/30 set up or 30/15 depending on what I'm feeling that day. On the Circuits, I would do 5-6 exercises of 10-20 reps per exercise, the only rest is marking off the circuit and timing the workouts on average of 15-30 minutes for 10 rounds. Sometimes 10 Rounds ends a bit shorter than that like around 10-12 minutes and even went as far as 15 Rounds one workout that took a little over 25 minutes, scratch that, just under 20 min. For the HIIT Workouts, I would pick around 3-5 exercises, go through them and repeat until I've covered the exercises at least 4 times, this comes out to about 12-15 minutes a session and I don't take 1-2 minute breaks, I just keep going so I can maintain my conditioning and muscular endurance.

It's all part of the process of staying fit and conditioned for 40 and beyond. Some things may change in due time but right now, I'm keeping things as simple as possible. The snow is melting and spring is just itching to come out. Once it gets a bit warmer, I'll be out playing, hiking, working with the hammer, maybe hit the lake more often and just stay healthy. The only big things of strength training I do is either Isometrics, working with Sandbells or maybe some farmer's walks with a heavy kettlebell but overall, for me it's not to see where my max strength is or go for miles until I collapse. Staying healthy and having strong and durable joints is the name of the game. 

I've seen too many horror stories of people in my age group getting injured and having surgeries left and right along with some of the death rates in the Fitness Industry below the age of 40 and under the age of 45. It has become too common and it's not worth sacrificing your body so you can't do anything later in life. Some people have become so hardcore that before their golden years, they're losing mobility and strength that can be useful. Some coaches even push their athletes and clients so hard that injuries might as well be a badge of honor and they're not contemplating the consequences. I'm all for creating challenges and seeing what's possible but at the same time, it's important to not be seduced by such crazy workouts on a frequent basis or feel like if you don't go nuts, the results won't come. It's bullshit. 

We aren't always able to do crazy shit when we were younger so it's important to train smart and with intention. Do what is possible to maintain our strength but the biggest goal is to keep a level of fitness that keeps us going and be able to do things the majority would have trouble with. Don't let age define you but also don't let stupidity get the best of you. Life doesn't end after a certain age, it just creates different opportunities and to do things that keep you from aging quicker. 

Be smart, be mindful and make your training count for when life throws you curveballs or having the ability to use your energy to spend time with the people you love. Playing with young nieces/nephews, your kids, grandkids, younger cousins and even be able to do activities with your spouse. Train to make life worthwhile, not to be crippled up and not be able to do a damn thing. Be amazingly awesome.