These are my workout areas; yoga, Pilates, Cajon playing, and dancing in the kitchen...ellipticals on the back porch and in the living room.
November 21, 2024
It's quite difficult to exercise when I'm always in pain, but if I don't work out, then the pain is that much worse. It seems like a lose - lose cycle though when I work out because it causes that much more pain, making me not want to do anything. But someone like me with Fibromyalgia and Arthritis I need to move regularly, and having ADHD, I need to relieve some of that pent up energy. So, I really have no other choice but to exercise; to release some of that energy, and to sort of make some of the pain and stiffness go away.
Asides from yesterday, the last day I actually worked out was October 31st. Now don't get me wrong, I've been active, doing chores and farm work, but I haven't made a real effort to get on my elliptical or yoga mat, and my body is really feeling it. I stopped because my lower back and right hip are so sore that it felt like I was just making it worse...but now my lower spine keeps cracking as I move, and not in a comfortable way...so I have to get back at it. I had physiotherapy today and my therapist wants me to go slowly and just do mat work, lying flat, engaging ab and glute muscles and holding them. Once that doesn't feel too bad, I am to start lifting opposite extremities while engaging those muscles. I am not to overdo it at this time because we don't have a clear picture of the cause of the initial pain. It very well could just (just :P) be the fibromyalgia and arthritis getting worse, I am getting older, but there may also be an underlying cause, so I will ask my family Dr when I see him Monday to send me for more imaging. Hopefully it's just (again, just...it still sucks, let me tell you) my usual illnesses causing more pain and not something new that needs to be 'fixed'...I'm not one for surgery so I'd rather suffer...or preferably, find somehow to fix whatever is wrong, in a different way. So, I will of course stick with physio and the light exercises and stretches she has suggested and keep working on that and hopefully the imaging won't have much to show.
It's too bad I am in so much pain because I really do love exercising. I always have. I used to run all the time everywhere when I was a kid. Then as an adult I spent most of my time on my bicycle for as long as I could depending on the weather and then would skate to work as many days as possible. Once my illnesses really took over, I could no longer use my bike as any jolting movement would kill me, and wearing my helmet was no longer an option as I couldn't take the pressure. That totally sucked too because I loved my bicycle...I'd spend hours on it as often as I could touring around the city. I also cannot use my skates as the pain of being on the blades is just too much, and the feel of cutting into the ice makes my calves ache. And again, that sucks too because I use to have so much fun skating the length of the canal every day to work when it was open...which back then we still had the weather for it.
As of this past winter all I had been doing is snowshoeing, it's fun but it's not the same. I don't even cross-country ski anymore because every time I'd slip, I'd hurt myself that much more, so I just gave that up too. I don't hike any more, but I do go for walks in the forest, there's only tiny hills now, no real steep incline for me. I still try to kayak, but it's difficult as they are so heavy, once I am finished my little excursion, my body is in too much pain from being seated in the tiny cubbyhole, my legs and back are stiff, and my arms ache from rowing...making lifting the kayak back into the vehicle way too hard for me.
Although it is painful, exercise is still so very important, especially for those of us with chronic pain, that was why I had decided to learn to become a Yoga Instructor. My goal was to help others who suffer in daily chronic pain to find a way to comfortably incorporate movement back into their lives. My own illnesses made it difficult for me to teach though, I couldn't work away from home, as again, my body is too unreliable. And having classes here at my home were weather dependent as they were held outdoors, so I just gave up on that idea. Too bad too because it was fun, I know the benefit of this type of exercise, and I am able to easily relate to my clients. Maybe one day I will have my own indoor studio and can host yoga classes again. Until then I will get back at it, and hopefully some of this pain will ease up enough so I can do more as I really do love exercising and miss it all so very much!