It's no secret that I am not an athlete.
Jim loves to tease me about this, too. I grew up with an artist dad and a secretary mama. Every single remotely athletic gene was piled on to my oldest brother, Matt. He loves (and excels at) all kinds of outdoor sports. Biking, rock climbing, kayaking, you name it. Even extreme unicycling. So cool, right??
Needless to say, I didn't get any of those genes. I love playing a casual game of volleyball or frisbee. I enjoy hiking and that kind of thing, but physical intelligence eludes me. And don't get me started on the trend of running marathons and all that... eesh! Running for fun makes about as much sense to me as screamo music. (I know, I know, there are lots of people who really enjoy this and that's great!) Jim will toss me my keys, I miss horribly and, "Craft family athletics!" he snickers.
Anyway! All that to say, I've done a very sub-par job of caring for my back lately. I lift James incorrectly. I don't exercise. We do walk around the neighborhood every day, but that's about it. I am absolutely ravaging my lower back. And I'm only 25! This week was the end of it.
On Monday, I started a gentle back strengthening and posture-improving work out. I basically searched on the internet and stuck a bunch of exercises together. The first 3 days I was pretty sore, of course, but today I can honestly say that my back feels AMAZING. I've been consciously lifting with my legs and James and I have been taking longer and more brisk walks.
Watch. I'll be all excited about a 5K that I'm running this time next year... riiiiight.
Here's what I've been doing: (Ok, don't make fun. Especially you P90Xers. I know these are old people exercises.)
Hamstring stretches
I call these "butt stretches"
Pelvic tilts
Alternate bird dog stretch (I stretch out the opposite arm, though, too)
- my version of a Sun Salutation (whattup, Sun??)
- pushups
- these posture exercise (this seems to be really effective)
It takes me about 20 minutes and afterward I feel like I've taken some kind of upper. Seriously, it feels great. Maybe that's why all these people run 800 miles for the fun of it...
4 comments:
Way to go! It wouldn't take you a year to train for a 5k. I am doing Couch to 5K right now it's a 9 week program and I no joke couldn't run 1 minute without dying when we started and now I can run 25 w/out stopping. I don't know if I love it enough to run a marathon but it's an achievement. You could totally do it!
Girl, this post is awesome. I enjoy running, but do not understand any group form of exercise. Justin always tries to get me to play tennis or basketball with him. If I'm going to exercise I don't want anyone watching me! Love it love it love it.
Hey Sara, this is Steph. I also suffer from lower back pain and have since high school. I have been doing Pilates for about 5 years and I love it! It has really strengthened by back. I do Winsor Pilates but I started out with Pilates for dummies. Just thought it might help you. It's a 20 min routine. Love you!
so funny. i loveth thee. i miss when we used to be able to shoot basketball together at awanita and stuff. owell. we made a baby. that should make up for it all.
Post a Comment