Working Out!

Let me just say that I have never been much a workout fan. I would much rather get exercise having fun, and staring at the wall while walking or running on a treadmill isn't my definition of fun! I have to say though, that today was pretty cool. In physical therapy today, Pablo "pushed" me to do more than I thought I could, and I'm glad. I've committed to pushing through as much pain as I can stand to try to break through to better health. I wasn't sure about my ability to work out today at all because the myofacial pain in my ribs and sternum were up pretty high, but I was able to push through it. I have a couple of specific goals that I am working on, so I just focused on them, and charged ahead.

While working on my lower back and in traction, I was also working on building strength back up in my arms (kind of a funny thought since my arms have never really been very strong). It must have looked like I was on a medieval rack with my lower body strapped to weights on one end, and my arms hanging on to weights at the other, stretching me out (I joked after that I gained 5 inches).

After the traction and weights I thought I was done, but Pablo had other ideas! He put me on a treadmill for ten minutes (he first said 5, but I was surprisingly doing pretty well, so I went 5 more). I was worried about my knees, since they usually scream at me when I do things like that. It felt good to really work my whole body today, it's been a long time.

The big test will be whether or not I can move tomorrow. I hope so, so that I can keep progressing. I'm still unsure if all this is helping my back, but I'm sure trying.