Today was a good day at yoga, fortunately not as challenging as last week since I think I may have strained something in my left shoulder while I was doing the full expression of chaturanga (toward the beginning of class, too). I came home, took a hot shower, took a muscle relaxer, and taped up the shoulder.
I really hope this doesn’t mean I’m benched for the rest of the week. I’m looking forward to helping with the ladies’ self-defense class on Thursday!
I ended up not ending on Friday because my belly was bothering me. Generally speaking it’s a bad idea to put on tight pants and run around when one’s belly is upset.
Fortunately my belly and I were on speaking terms this weekend, and I led/participated in a successful melee practice on Sunday. I got to teach, learn, make friends, and fight. The group I was visiting also had a tasty potluck lunch. It was a really great weekend and fun practice.
Last week at Krav I trained so hard I forgot what day it was. I said, “See you Wednesday!” to my friends as I was leaving, and they looked at me, confused, and said, “…it is Wednesday.” I’d call it a good night.
This is the month that we’ll start training toward passing the proficiency tests. I’m super stoked to see the new curriculum tonight.
On Friday I got to go to fencing. I spent the session helping a new lady fighter. I’m trying to figure out how I can help young women who are new to the sport make it work with their body mechanics.
My mentor is coming to town this week, and he’s going to visit my students. I can’t wait to see him and to see him interact with my “kids.”
All in all, I’m just super excited about all the fighting in my life this week.
Oh, yeah… I dropped one pants size.
Today I did my lunges after doing 30 minutes on the elliptical and 5 minutes on the punching bag at the gym. My punches are getting better. The big knuckles are the ones with the chafing from my gloves!
I don’t know how much lowering the target for my lunges helped me because I’m still sore around the edges from Krav last night (it wasn’t nonstop like Monday, but it was a challenging class, and we did go over our time). I hit the target more often than not. When the movement gets robotic, I get sloppy.
I’m taking ibuprofen before combat activities and a muscle relaxer after (like as soon as I get home so I’m not a zombie the next day). Shoulders are stiff but starting to get back to where they were, flex wise. Now my calves are angry with me. Fortunately, what I’m experiencing now is soreness, not pain.
I saw my GP about my shoulder today. He said that my issue is musculo-skeletal, not neural. That’s good. He said he could send me in for tests, but when I asked if anyone could do anything for me if those tests came back showing something, he said no, so I declined.
I’ve been prescribed muscle relaxers and given the broad diagnosis of “chronic injury.” Basically, I should take ibuprofen before activity and use heat to increase blood flow. I can live with this. I know people who fence way better than I do who have much more serious injuries.
I also feel that my doctor focused a little too much on the fact that I fence, no matter how many times I told him that I’ve had this numb spot significantly longer than I’ve been fencing. However, that doesn’t change the fact that he says I can more or less keep living my life.
I don’t think I really got any answers, but I did get some weak reassurance. I’m going to look for stretches and exercises for the upper back/shoulder region (the numb spot is on my scapula). If you know of any good stretches, please let me know (preferably with pictures). I’m mostly interested in back and shoulder (my shoulders are SO STIFF right now) stretches, but really, I’m interested in preventing injuries of all kinds.
I had an awesome night at Krav Maga. We did some HIIT at the beginning and end and spent the rest of the class throwing each other around in an alley.
Tonight I realized that I make weird faces when I fight but never had to confront them because of my fencing mask. Also, if you need to do sit-ups and are prone to frequent gas, next to a Dumpster is the best place to do it.
My right shoulder is fine, maybe a little tingly after practice. My left shoulder is tight. I feel invincible right now, but I’m not going to lunge until tomorrow. I think the ~2lbs of steel at the end of my hand is what’s worsening the situation, so I’m not rushing back in yet. There will be a sword in my hand this week.
I made an appointment to see my GP about my shoulder. I’m taking a break from the lunge challenge for the time being. I think the repetitive motion is doing more harm than good. I like being part of something, but it’s not worth my health.
If I feel better, I might work in a day from time to time, but I’m not going to try to play catch up anymore. I thought 200 in a day was reasonable, but it really isn’t.
Our culture values playing through the pain when we really need to rest and take some anti-inflammatories. “No pain, no gain” is a phrase we’ve all heard at least once, and I’m thinking it’s time for that sentiment to go out of style.
I did 200 lunges this morning because I was too busy hanging out with Santa to do them last night, and I’ll be at a show in Birmingham tonight.
Starting in fourth and transitioning from there was a challenge. I really want to start in first. Always.
My shoulders are killing me. I got a massage from a massage therapy student yesterday. As soon as she touched me, she asked if I was an athlete. When she was working my shoulder (the right one is bothering me now), she guessed volleyball. I considered making her guess, but I assumed “fighting everyone I see” wouldn’t necessarily come to mind.
In addition to fencing, I practice Krav Maga. Studying Krav has had a huge impact on my fencing mindset, so I don’t mind sharing an occasional story or two about it on here. This is one of those stories.
Last week we were practicing getting out of bear hugs. We were doing a drill during which one person (for this story, the person is me) stands in the room with her eyes closed. Two things might happen. Either someone with a hitting pad will yell her name, and she’ll open her eyes and either kick or hit the pad (depending on her position), OR someone will bear hug her, and she will open her eyes and get away.
So we were doing this drill, and it was my turn in the middle. The room was very quiet. I have to set the tone here, so I want you to imagine this quiet, serious scenario. Suddenly someone ran up and bear hugged me. I was more or less ready for this, but having someone suddenly grab you is usually startling. This fellow wrapped his arms tight about my midsection, and I farted. Loudly. In a very quiet room.
To my classmates’ credit, they tried to act like they didn’t hear it because this was a room full of adults, not second graders, but there was no denying exactly what just happened. So as I was fighting my way out of the bear hug, I yelled, “It’s part of my defense!” Then it was okay for everyone to laugh. Fortunately that squeeze got it all out of my system, and it didn’t happen again (plus I was lucky that it was just loud, not gross).
The moral of the story is if you ever find yourself being attacked, just let one rip. Be loud and proud. That person will probably just let you go.
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