Tag: pain

Tennis Ball Masseuse

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Tennis_ball_01It’s quite simple, really. Your back hurts. You’ve got a knot somewhere and you can’t reach it. You live alone. You’re too proud to ask for a back rub. You’re too poor to go get one yourself. So you figure out a way.

That way, for me, is to use a tennis ball.

You lie on the ground and roll around with a tennis ball beneath you. Find the spot it hurts the most, hold until you can’t stand it, then release and move on.

I used it constantly on my feet for my plantar fasciitis. And it works like a charm on all sorts of tight muscles.

I’d pretend I’m the first one to come up with this idea but there are hundreds for pictures that come up with you google “tennis ball massage”… so I’m just another of the believers.

What a Pain in the Back

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back pain

I hurted my self a little.

Mom, be cool. I’m fine. No need to call me and suggest I go to the doctor right now. This post was written about a week after I hurt myself and will be published about a week from the day it was written. By the time you read it, I’ll be absolutely back to 100%. Also I love you and please send money.

I woke up one morning with a severe pain in my lower back. I couldn’t figure out what I did. I have a pretty strong back and am careful about doing certain back exercises because plenty of people in my family have hurt their back through work injuries or dumbass crossfit instructors.

But this was a definite pain in my lower back that wasn’t like a pinched nerve or a tight muscle (which I’m unfortunately extremely accustomed to). This was like that dull, debilitating, feels like it’s coming from your spine pain. Yeah. It sucked.

I had to slowly get up and down from my bed and chairs for about a week. I hobbled around like an old man because the only position that felt comfortable was slightly hunched and walking slowly. I yelled at kids to “Get off my lawn!” even though I live in an apartment complex. I avoided back exercises and stretched as best I could I did whatever it took to felt better.

As I was trying to figure out what did it and a particular move came to mind. The day before I woke up in pain I had been doing dumbell deadlifts. I had used a higher weight than normal. It had been a while since I did a deadlift. I got cocky and paid very little attention to my form because I never had issues with them in the past. I made sure to really use my back and rely less on my hamstrings and arms to make up for it.

Basically… I over did it.

It took about a week to recover. I’m slowly starting to get back on track (BACK! HA! GET IT!? BACK on TRACK!? BAHAHAHAH… sorry). By next week I’ll probably start to reintroduce some back exercises to help strengthen it again so this doesn’t happen. And I’ll introduce them slowly. And carefully.

It’s like that old saying goes, “Once you go bad back, you don’t ever go back.”

Insoles

Briana Hansen1 Comment

I’m visiting my hometown of Indianapolis at the moment. This is limiting my overall workouts, but extremely helpful for my personal recalibration and inspiration.

Plus, it’s nice on my bank account because my mommy and daddy buy me everything. Because I am an adult. And I depend on them to buy me stuff.

Anyhoo, my mommy bought me insoles for my foot. They’re specifically targeted for people suffering from plantar fasciitis. They give a little extra cushioning between your heel and the ground. Which I guess lets the inflamed tendons heal a little bit.

I put them in my running shoes. I haven’t had time to use my running shoes yet. And when I do use them, it will not be for running (just yet) because we have to work back up to that. But I’m excited I’ll have at least something that will hopefully help.

Plus, my parents have a little elliptical machine in the extra bedroom. I was able to elliptical the other day for about 40 minutes without pain. So maybe I’ll give the new insoles  a little spin on the elliptical machine.

That is assuming, of course, my brother isn’t home. If he is, I will probably drink beer and catch up on Breaking Bad instead of working out. I’m still technically on “vacation,” after all.

Pent up energy

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I’m giving myself a little rest right now. I was headed to the gym this morning but my foot started screaming at me. I decided to take it easy. For once. UUUUGHHHH.

The problem isn’t just that my over-achiever-ness wants to go everything always including pushing my body to the limit. Or that I continue to eat as if I’ve worked out hard at the gym that day. The problem is mainly that at the end of the day, when I go to bed, I have all this pent up energy from not exercising.

I know people would kill to have more energy throughout the day, so maybe this seems like a silly thing to complain about. But I don’t have the energy throughout the day. I have it late at night. And it prevents me from getting a good night’s sleep. Which prevents me from being able to wake up easily in the wee hours of the morning. Which prevents me from getting everything I want to do done. Which usually means I can’t make it to the gym because that’s the first thing on the to do list that typically goes. Well, maybe the second. I don’t do dishes, then I don’t go to the gym.

IT’S A VICIOUS CYCLE.

And to top it off, my foot troubles are giving me even more excuse to give myself a little rest. But my body is wondering why there is so much leftover energy every night. Body needs to talk to foot so we can work all these things out.

Then again, I’m going through some stuff in the personal world, so maybe it’s just stress that’s keeping me up. Maybe a little meditation, reflection and perspective will help me sleep better.

NAH. I’LL JUST BLAME MY FOOT.