A Cranky Weekly Rundown
Well, I hurt my hip. Or my hamstring. One of those. And guess how I did it? LUNGES. I’m so annoyed- I mean isn’t the whole point of strength training to PREVENT injuries??? Here’s how the whole sorry week went down… (Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown!) Sunday Here’s where it happened. I did a lower body strength workout including lunges, and in the last set I felt something a little… funny… in my left hip. Nothing too concerning though. Afterwards I went for a 40 minute walk, and everything felt okay. Monday Top of the morning! I can’t WAIT to run! Hey, that’s funny. My left hip feels strange. I made it through 4 miles with a bit of discomfort. HOWEVER. I sat down to eat breakfast, and when I stood up my hip felt horrible- SO stiff and sore. Yikes. Later in the day I did Adriene’s yoga for low back pain. Everything was normal until I tried to stretch my left hamstring- OUCH. That’s where the issue is. Tuesday Time to hit the gym! I got on the bike for 20 minutes, and tried not to dwell on the fact that if I just hadn’t done lunges on Sunday, I would be running on a trail instead of pedaling to nowhere. I followed my angry bike ride with a great upper body strength workout though. Later in the afternoon I walked for 40 minutes- motion is lotion, right?- and did yoga again. Hamstring is feeling a bit better. Wednesday 45 minutes on the StairMaster! It’s my “favorite” cardio machine- not while I’m doing it, obviously, but afterwards it gives me endorphins that are the next best thing to running. At night- more yoga, and I can now stretch my hamstring fully. Hooray! It’s all healed! Thursday Nope. I went for a run and made it 2 miles- it wasn’t that I had to stop because it was painful, but rather I chose to stop because the level of discomfort was telling me I shouldn’t be running. I walked the last mile home, and because I was upset I totally forgot to take a photo. At night- hip mobility and stretching. It’s weird- when I’m running I feel it in my hip, but I can do all my hip exercises without pain. It’s my hamstring that’s very sore. Friday Sigh. Back to the gym! This time I did 50 minutes on the Stair Master… … and a shoulder workout. My hip/hamstring may not be cooperating, but I WILL have toned shoulders for the wedding! Later- more hip mobility and stretching. Saturday 40 minute walk. Whenever I can’t run, I try to alternate walking (for mental health, I want to be outside moving forward) and StairMaster, to give me a more intense cardio workout. I also did some bodyweight strength for my lower body, just to see how things felt. Everything felt good, although I obviously didn’t do lunges BECAUSE I’M NEVER DOING LUNGES AGAIN AS LONG AS I LIVE. Sunday On tap for the day- SIGH. I guess it’s back to the gym for the StairMaster! And more upper body strength. I’m not going to try running again until everything feels 100%. How was your week? What’s your “favorite” type of cross training? Top photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash