Tales of Terrace the Traveller: Chapter 4: Like a Phoenix

[TravellerTerrace]

After a long hiatus of trying to get my life back in order, starting with my mind, and readying myself for some big things in the future, I return!

 

I'm going to truly do it this time. But I can't do this alone, which is why...

 

TASK 1: Make a friend on the forum.

 

I'm going to need all the help I can get to truly get back to where I need to be. This won't be hard, and I'll have someone to talk to here one-on-one as a friend.

 

TASK 2: Get drawing again!

 

I want to become better at this, so I plan to have five different pictures done by the end of this challenge!

 

TASK 3: Return to exercising.

 

I must admit, I kinda set myself up for failure these last few times. But now that will change.

 

My current regimen is...

 

Warm up

 

Lift 10 pounds with each arm 10 times

10 sit ups

10 push ups

10 squats

 

a quick rest, then repeat.

 

Then cool down.

 

 

Here's to bettering myself.

[Kishi]

Welcome back! Looks like the starting line has shifted a bit for you, so to speak. But you got your head on straight and it looks like you're ready to tackle this thing.

 

All the goals look solid and totally attainable.

 

How often are you doing that regimen of yours?

[TravellerTerrace]

It's a bit early to tell, as I've only been doing it for a bit, but three times a week. Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

 

And yeah, I keep having to shift the starting line it seems ^^;

 

Let's hope that this is the last time I need to do that.

[TravellerTerrace]

Man...what's really gonna kill me is the push ups. They aren't easy on my elbows. I think I'm doing something wrong but I don't know what.

[sarakingdom]

Hmm, tough one.  If I can't find an obvious cause for something like that, I tend to assume that there's some set of supporting muscles that aren't really strong enough for the motion yet, and back down the ladder to the next-easiest version.  Maybe start with full-extension plank for a week or two?  Since that's static, very little impact on the elbows, but it'll also start to develop the set of muscles you'll be using for push-ups.

 

My next best suggestion would be something like trying a wider arm position.  It's not quite the same variety of pushup, but it might help you find out if there's a bad habit, like locking your elbows or something, that you're using in the normal version, or at least just provide a different set of directional forces on the joints.  Or maybe genuinely back down the ladder and try incline pushups for a week or three.

[TravellerTerrace]

Alright, I'll give that a shot.

[Kishi]

Echoing Sara. Feel free to play around with a bunch of different variants and such, and also feel free to deload yourself a bit if you need to by going down to knees. Joint pain tends to indicate a badness somewhere, and training through that is not productive in the long term.

[TravellerTerrace]

Alright, today I gave the push ups a shot on my knees, then with my elbows wider, then both...and doing them both seems to be hurting my elbows a bit less than doing it normally...is there anything wrong with this?

[sarakingdom]

Nope, you do what you can do.  The only thing wrong is that hurting "a bit less" doesn't really seem like a big improvement... maybe not enough improvement to make that the safest move for your elbows. 

 

In your shoes, I'd try temporarily replacing your push-ups with full extension plank, one set of 30 seconds per round of your routine, working up to 45-second sets, just to get some of those muscles active and engaged before you bring your elbows into it.  And also looking for other things in your workout or daily routine that might be stressing your elbows - lifting form, even something like leaning on them habitually can irritate the nerves that run through there.

[TravellerTerrace]

Okay, I got news!

After doing a few things, it seems I hurt my right shoulder. And I'm not sure what I should do about fixing it. It feels like...muscle pain in the joint. In any case, my routine is gonna be seriously gimped because of it. What should I do to make it feel better?

[Kishi]

In terms of pain, ice and ibuprofen are my two favorites. As far as rehab is concerned, two moves that come to mind as having value are banded pull-aparts and shoulder dislocations. Good luck with all that.

[Teirin]

^^  All of this plus some rest and sleep.  Glad to see you back!

[TravellerTerrace]

My arm is back in business!
...ACtually, it has for a few days, but that's not the point. I've been working on my drawing and workout, and I feel great!

Now I just need an accountabilibuddy...is that what they're called? I wonder what's the best way of going about getting one.

[Kishi]

Actually, we have a topic for that in the Guild already. You can check it out over here. It's not quite the same as the old thing we used to do, but it still works.

[Teirin]

How are you doing now?

[TravellerTerrace]

Sorry for taking a while to come back, had to help take care of Great Grandmother.

 

I seem to have noticed another REALLY BAD PROBLEM I have.

Anxiety makes it hard to come back to things if I stop, but I've been keeping up on it.

[Kishi]

Well, seems like the best thing you can do is outwork your anxiety. That's probably the best move to keep going forward.

[Teirin]

Excellent work getting back then  :-)  Interruptions happen.